As the Crow Flies

As the Crow Flies is a community-engaged public art project that brings creative connections to urban birds directly into the hands of the citizens of Vancouver. As the Crow Flies is a 10-kilometer community public art project consisting of diverse artworks designed to engage and educate the public about what they can do to help reverse the environmental problems that include loss of biodiversity, climate change, and species decline.

Our projects, including Fledglings, Nesting Nests, and On the Wing, are fun, hands on temporary artworks that bring together and empower local communities to learn how to make positive environmental changes on personal, community, and even national levels.

As the Crow Flies takes place at community centres and parks across Vancouver in the months leading up to the the Vancouver International Bird Festival (http://www.vanbirdfest.com) and the International Ornithological Congress in August when bird enthusiasts from around the world will focus their attention on BC.

Stay tuned below for locations, dates, and times for your opportunity to have a hand in creating public art about birds!

Fledglings Description:

Help us make 6,000 ceramic baby Northwestern crows using hand-press molds! These figures, designed by chART artists Cameron Cartiere and Jess Portfleet will roost in storefront windows, community centres, and schools along the 10-kilometer line from Strathcona to Marpole, until the final day of the Bird Festival and Ornithological Congress, when the flock will be released to the public. This ceramic flock represents the number of actual crows whose daily migration traverses the Vancouver skies every evening as they make their way back to the Still Creek Rookery in Burnaby. The emphasis of this work is on the unseen inhabitants of the nest; to provoke an awareness of the vulnerability of the small creatures and to create a mindfulness of the host of other bird species trying to raise their young in our shared city.

Help us create a large-scale temporary artwork by weaving nests using coil basket techniques. Designed by chART artists Cameron Cartiere and Jaymie Johnson this sculpture will be comprised of nests for the broad array of birds that are native to Metro Vancouver, from the Anna’s Hummingbird to the Bald Eagle. The community-made nests will be assembled together on a secure willow armature to create one large nest (2.5 meters in diameter) representing the range of habitats needed for birds to survive in our region. These workshops are a unique opportunity not only for creative production, but also to engage in environmental education, story-telling, music, and community building. The giant nest will be assembled to coincide with the 27th International Ornithological Congress taking place in Vancouver.